Returning Shades
by Glacial Phoenix Mystiara
Summary: Seiftis. (Yep, i agree with Alonia.)Was trying for the emotions. FF8 does not belong to me, it belongs to Squaresoft.
1. Returning Shades

Final Fantasy VIII Fanfiction  
  
Returning Shades – The Full Story  
  
Authoress's Note: This is yet another Queifer. Full story of Returning Shades…hope you like it, and hope it touches your heart.  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
Farewell…  
  
Seifer twisted about and tried to raise himself into a sitting position, but collapsed back on the floor. He was too weak to sit up, and he knew it. Pain shot through his limbs, and streaks of red and blue danced before his eyes. Gritting his teeth against the burning agony, Seifer shook his head, trying to clear it. He felt giddy and sick, and the pain was getting worse. It felt like his insides were ripped out, as if he had been gutted. He shuddered involuntarily and another wave of pain swept through him as he reminded himself savagely that his insides, while not ripped out, were almost certainly ripped apart.  
  
Slowly, his field of vision cleared. The streaks of red and blue began to fade and he could see his real surroundings, but only very hazily, as if he was looking through thickly frosted glass. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes on something. His vision cleared a little more, but the surroundings were still hazy. He breathed in and closed his eyes. Opening them and looking at hazy, swirling surroundings made him dizzy and sick.  
  
"Seifer! Seifer!"  
  
His eyes shot open again when he heard someone call his name. The voice was faint, barely audible, then it steadily grew louder, calling his name repeatedly. Who was it? The voice was familiar, very familiar…he knew it, but he couldn't place who it was calling for him. He closed his eyes again, trying to think. Then everything clicked, and he remembered the voice was Quistis Trepe's. It was she yelling hoarsely for him.  
  
Now he could hear her footsteps, coming closer and closer, and he knew she was near. He battled the darkness reaching its eager hands out for him, fought it back. Seifer just wasn't ready for the darkness to take him into its cold embrace, and he clung on to the silver threads of precious life that were fraying, snapping all too soon. He half-opened his eyes, and saw her face peering down at him, looking concerned.  
  
"Quistis…" he whispered hoarsely, unable to muster anything more than a croak. Ignoring the fresh searing pain, he slowly reached out his hand and grasped hers tightly. "Quistis…"  
  
Stunned, Quistis did not move, her eyes fixed upon his face. She felt his hand take hold of hers in its warm grip. "Seifer?" she asked softly. His eyes were looking straight at hers.  
  
"Quistis…I…I have…someth…something to tell you," Seifer croaked. Quistis strained her ears to catch each words, for his voice was barely audible, strained and tight with pain.  
  
She said nothing, and Seifer continued, pain in his voice. "Quistis, I…I love you."  
  
Quistis gave a soft gasp, and she turned her head away from Seifer, unable to hold back the tears that spilled from her blue eyes and flooded down her cheeks in crystalline rivulets. She didn't want him to see her cry. Still looking away from him, she replied, her voice thick with grief, "And I love you, Seifer."  
  
Seifer increased the pressure on her hand as pain shot anew through him. He muttered hoarsely, each word a searing agony, "I would…have..told…you…earlier…if I had known…I would…die so soon…say goodbye to the rest for me, Quistis…."  
  
Quistis's hand jerked in his grip, and she turned back abruptly, tears pattering down onto the ground. "No! Seifer! You won't die! Tell me you'll live, Seifer, tell me you'll live!" Her voice was choked and pleading, and her eyes begged him to say he'd not die, say he'd live.  
  
Seifer shook his head sadly. "Goodbye…goodbye..Quistis…" he whispered to her, and her alone. She stared down at him, unable to make herself believe that he was dying in front of her, and then she felt his grip on her hand go slack.  
  
He was dead.  
  
"Seifer!" she cried, and fresh tears burst forth, flooding down in torrents. "Why? Oh, why?" She still had her fingers entwined in his lifeless ones. She bowed her head, letting the tears flow down onto their joined hands, rain of grief watering the garden of her love.  
  
I was complete with you, Seifer…whole like I never was before…now you're gone from me. You made my heart sing and lift with joy, and you made my heart sink with lead, down into the depths of sorrow. Oh, Seifer…  
  
She didn't move from her spot, kneeling next to his body, until someone gently pried her hands loose from his and persuaded her to leave. "Quistis…there's no use…it's night time, you should be asleep. Seifer's dead, Quistis, he'll never come back."  
  
She didn't care who was the one talking to her. Eyes still moist and sparkling with unshed tears, she allowed herself to be led away, taking a last look at the lifeless body of Seifer, still in death.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
1 Chapter Two  
  
Our Spirits Will Be Together….  
  
Quistis tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Her eyes were still brimming with unshed tears, which were still spilling down her cheeks. Her pillow was damp from the hot salty tears. She remembered Seifer…so clearly…memories of him still floating around in her mind. She could not forget him, no matter how she tried, and she didn't want to. She saw his face in her mind, heard his voice ringing in her ears, audible to no one but her, and then she would remember he was dead, gone. The pain of that was acute, cutting into her, rending her heart into a million pieces and slicing her soul apart piece by piece.  
  
"Seifer…Seifer…" she kept murmuring to the still, empty air, as if she could call him back. Quistis stared up at the ceiling, strangely hoping to see him materialize in front of her, but she knew she wouldn't. Slowly, slowly, she cried herself into a fitful sleep.  
  
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"Quistis…Quistis…" a voice echoed softly.  
  
Quistis's breath caught in her throat as she recognised that voice. Oh, that voice, for which she had longed to hear again! She knew it, she loved it, she missed it…"Oh, Seifer!" she cried, her heart lifting in a song of joy, and she raced forward.  
  
"Seifer…" she gasped, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks as she looked up into his handsome face, "I missed you so much…just so much."  
  
"I know, Quistis, and I missed you too," he replied.  
  
Quistis smiled brightly. She felt happy, safe, warm, contented. She was drowning in a sea of love, and she would gladly drown a thousand times more. She was silent for a moment, then hesitated and asked Seifer softly, "Seifer…I thought…I thought you were dead…"  
  
He looked down at her.  
  
"My body is gone, but my spirit lives on, because love transcends all boundaries. So no matter where you are, my spirit will always be by your side, accompanying you. For always."  
  
Quistis smiled again, her eyes lighting up with joy. Her eyes met with Seifer's. Neither spoke, finding words incapable of expressing the joy in their hearts. Words were not needed, though. Each knew what the other wanted to say, as if they could read each other's minds and hearts. They knew their hearts and souls were one, they were one, together as one, forever, and nothing would change that fact.  
  
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Quistis stirred and awoke, her eyes fluttering open. She felt strangely buoyant and lighthearted; it was as if a burden had been lifted from her, content and at harmony with the world around her. She smiled, knowing the reason why.  
  
A breeze blew into her room, seemingly whispering into her ear, "Quistis…I'll be by your side…always. We will be together…till the end of time…and beyond."  
  
Quistis looked up, and murmured softly to the wind, knowing his spirit would hear her, "Seifer…I know you'll always be by my side. We'll be together…forever." 


	2. Quistis' POV

A/N: Told from the POV of Quistis after Seifer's death…  
  
  
  
He's gone, forever, and nothing will bring him back. Seifer's dead. I wonder why joy is so short-lived? In that moment when he told me he loved me, my heart lifted with a song of joy, which died almost instantly.  
  
Time and fate are so cruel, tearing us apart. It's like ripping me into a million pieces, and scattering those pieces all over the earth. I thought I was complete before, but I realised that I wasn't…I was never complete till Seifer said he loved me. Yet…now he's left this world to a land beyond the ravaging hands of time. Without him, I am an empty shell. I will never be complete again.  
  
The agony of loss sears through me, wounding my heart, wounding my soul. Creating an empty space, which will never be filled. Seifer…why did you leave me alone so soon? Why? As I ask you that question, I know you'll never answer.  
  
Seifer, your hand in mine, full of warmth just a moment ago, is cold with the cold that only death can bring. Losing you is a torture. I barely tasted the sweet wine that was love before it slipped down my throat, leaving only the bitter dregs of your death.  
  
I can feel the tears slide down my face. I wish the tears could move the sky, touch the unfeeling sky with grief, and I wish most of all that my tears could bring you back to life. But I have to face the harsh, choking, painful reality that they cannot, that all the weeping and crying in the world cannot bring you back.  
  
Love has brought me the sweet fruit of joy, and now it gives me the bitter fruit of sorrow. Were we fated to part like this? A question that I can never answer, a question I will ask forever in the depths of my heart.  
  
Yet the memory of you will stay in my heart till the end of time, and I know, deep inside me, that I will see you again, someday, in a land beyond the ravaging hands of time and the cruel hurt of parting. I will wait patiently for that day.  
  
Goodbye, Seifer, goodbye, till we meet again, in a world free of the pain of parting. Goodbye…and know that I have always loved you…and that I will love you till and beyond the end of time. 


	3. Returning Shades - Seifer's POV

Disclaimer: Seifer Almasy and Quistis Trepe and everything FF8 belong to Squaresoft.  
  
  
  
Pain. Blinding, searing pain. A flaring, unending, continous atmosphere of agony. I can feel nothing else. No cooling, numbing ache of healing magic, just pain. It feels like I'm burning up, inside out, like red-hot irons are searing into me.  
  
I force open my eyes. The world around is hazy, clouded in misty cloaking fog. Streaks of light red and blue dance before my eyes. I can't see straight. I feel dizzy, dizzy and sick. I close my eyes, unwilling to see more of the swirling fog and streaks of red and blue.  
  
Then something catches my ears. I barely hear it in the throes of pain. Then it gets louder. Where have I heard that cry before? That sweet melodic voice? It is so familiar…but I can't place it.  
  
"Seifer! Seifer!" She's calling my name. Everything clicks, and I know who it is. I want to croak her name out, want to call back, but my throat seems parched dry, and my voice won't work. I can't speak her name.  
  
I hear footsteps pounding up, and I instinctively feel her, next to me.I crack open my eyes, and her face swims into focus, though it is like looking through thickly frosted glass. Trying my best not to wince at the pain that sweeps in one agonizing rush through me when I move my hand, I reach out, feeling for her slender fingers. I find them, and take hold of them in my own.  
  
"Quistis?" I croak. My voice sounds hoarse to my own ears. I tighten my grip over her fingers. She looks up, and responds softly, "Seifer?"  
  
You have to say it now, Seifer Almasy. Now, or never.  
  
I strain to make my voice more than a hoarse whisper, but its volume does not seem to change. "I…I…I lo..love you, Quistis." I manage to say, almost inaudibly. She half turns away, and I see a faint glimmer in her eyes. Tears?  
  
"I love you too, Seifer," she replies. She sounds as if there is a lump in her throat. Quistis Trepe – crying? She looks away from me, not wanting to look at me. I have so much to say…why is it that I have so little time to spill my feelings for her? Why?  
  
I struggle to say the first words that come out from my mouth. "Say…say goodbye…to the rest for me…Quistis…" She nods, head still not turning towards me. Painfully, I continue. "I…won't…be able…to say…farewell…to…them…because…I'm…dying. I…I know…I am."  
  
Her head whips around fiercely, and I am stunned and shocked to see crystalline tears falling from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. "You won't die…you can't die, Seifer. Tell me you'll live. Tell me!" she pleads, and the rain of tears becomes heavier, from the light few drops of tears to a torrent of pearly drops.  
  
I want so much to tell her that…but I can't. I shake my head, and one lone tear slips from my eye and drips onto the ground. Seifer Almasy, crying? I know no-one will believe it. I feel my life slipping slowly away from me, and death taking me into its final embrace, eternal sleep already half swallowing me into its depths.  
  
"Goodbye, Quistis," I whisper. "Goodbye.  
  
"Seifer! Seifer…No…Seifer!" I hear her cry, seemingly farther and farther away…and then, no more. 


End file.
